Welcome to the Character Education Network

Character Traits

Developing positive character traits among youth is vital in today's society. Character Education should be infused into the climate and daily routine of schools. The Character Education Network aids in this effort by providing materials that teachers can use in an easy to understand format.

Many different schools, school districts and even states are now requiring that Character Education be specifically addressed in the classroom. Some organizations are even specifically listing the traits to be taught. The Character Education Network has identified the most common and broad-ranging group of character traits in cooperation with our development partners.

These character traits are:

Responsibility
Being accountable in word and deed. Having a sense of duty to fulfill tasks with reliability, dependability and commitment.

Perseverance
Pursuing worthy objectives with determination and patience while exhibiting fortitude when confronted with failure.

Caring
Showing understanding of others by treating them with kindness, compassion, generosity and a forgiving spirit.

As defined by Dr. Thomas Lickona, character education is the deliberate effort to develop virtues that are good for the individual and good for society. The objective goodness of virtues is based on the fact that they:

Affirm our human dignity

Promote the well-being and happiness of the individual

Serve the common good

Define our rights and obligations

Meet the classical ethical tests of reversibility (Would you want to be treated this way?) and universalizability (Would you want all persons to act this way in a similar situation?).